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NASA Says Relations With Russia Unscathed by Earthly Concerns

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U.S. NASA astronaut Steven Swanson (L) joins hands with Russian cosmonauts, Alexander Skvortsov (C) and Oleg Artemyev (R), in front of a mock-up of a Soyuz TMA spacecraft at the Gagarin Cosmonauts' Training Centre in Star City centre outside Moscow, on March 5, 2014AFP / Getty Images
By Dan Kedmey

The crisis in Ukraine has disrupted the G-8 talks, the Paralympic Games and stock exchanges around the world, but according to NASA it has yet to reach outer space.

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said relations with Russia remain strong in the international space station, even as they’ve taken a turn for the worse back on earth, which is fortunate, given that NASA has relied on Russia to ferry its astronauts to outer space ever since the retirement of its space shuttle program in 2011.

Bolden called on Congress to fund a commercial replacement to the defunct program. In the meantime, he said, they depended on Russia’s cooperation.

“I don’t think it’s an insignificant fact that we are starting to see a number of people with the idea that the International Space Station be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize,” Bolden added.

[CBS News]

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